Teaching with VIPKID: 7 Week Update & $2786 earned

I’ve been working with VIPKID for 7 weeks now and am absolutely in love with this side hustle. VIPKID is a platform for teaching Chinese students English online! First thing first: If you missed my first post with general Q&A about VIPKID, skip over to find it here: Everything You Need to Know About VIPKID .

Below you will find an update of what I’ve learned about the company and culture, how student achievement is measured, what I’ve earned so far, and how you can get started too.

Teachers can continue to do what they love regardless of their circumstances! It offers teachers an opportunity to continue what they are passionate about when they are staying home, OR alongside their full-time job.

It’s been an answer to prayer financially.

right now money – using a skill set I already have – without sacrificing time away from my family – in my pajama pants- with the lessons provided.

THESE KIDS ARE PRECIOUS. It is an amazing feeling to turn on my camera and be transported to the student’s world in China, and vise versa. When our countries have such vastly different political differences, it is so cool to connect on this level with an incredible culture exchange. When you watch the lesson playback, you will see the student sitting there 30 minutes before class starts just WAITING on the edge of their seat for you to arrive. They will practice introducing themselves over and over to get it just right, and their parents will comb their hair and encourage them. The whole experience is beautiful and I’ve learned so much.

Each month VIPKID offers its teachers different incentives to make more based on different criteria. It’s fun to set new goals and I love that they are creative in motivating us each month with bonuses!

VIPKID uses a flipped classroom model with a curriculum that progresses through 6 levels.

Each lesson consists of these components:

Students watch a pre-class video to introduce the lesson content.

1:1 class with the teacher (25 minutes): It is very unique because students have the ability to APPLY what they are learning with their English skills to a real life situation with the teacher!

Post-Class Computer Homework. The first part of the homework is interactive “game-like” review on the computer and the second part on the computer is review slides that collect data from the students’ performance so far.

Review Workbook: Students have a review workbook with fluency readers that are also built on in class with the teacher, resources for parents to help their child study at home, and different projects to choose from for each unit. VIPKID is doing their best to include project based learning options for students to do on their own for each unit.

There is also a video extension library where American teachers have submitted “virtual field trips” on specific topics for students to make further connections.

CHECK THIS OUT! In my last post, I told you about Kobe Bryant investing 100,000 in October (several other great investors too). Here are some more fun facts. VIPKID has experienced 30% growth month-on-month. There is a 95% renewal rate for student packages and a 98.9% renewal rate for teachers after their 6 month contract. VIPKID operates in 32 countries for English teachers and Chinese students. We will see VIPKID offered to more nationalities in coming years!

Growth:

January 2016- 700 teachers January 2017- 7,000 teachers

March 2017: 9,500 teachers and 90,000 students

April 2017: almost 11,000 teachers and 100,000 paying students

January 2018 projection: 30,000-40,000 teachers

Partners:

VIPKID partners with TESOL International Association to provide ELL and ELT in China and around the globe with world-class teaching and learning resources. VIPKID partnered with Coursera to provide 500 teachers a Coursera certification course through Arizona State University. There will be more professional development opportunities offered soon! They are also partnering with ETS to create TOEFL Primary Test Prep to students in China.

The VIPKID business model allows you to increase your income by 50% on average. The average teacher’s pay is $1500, but the earning potential is $5000+/month. I know you’re like “Okay, but how much have YOU made?” so here ya go!

I don’t mind sharing my payout with you in full disclosure. Below is the screenshot from March.

$1436 for 3 weeks in March (exactly half of what I made teaching 2nd grade full time) and it will be $1350 for 3 weeks in April for a total of $2786. It is direct deposited into your bank account on the 15th of each month.

(updated May 13th to add screenshot of pay!)

Keep in mind, I teach FULL TIME, have a network marketing business with Arbonne, and also like to have a little fun. : ) So if you do not have a full time job, your income earning potential will be much greater than this. Yes, to make this amount of money along with my other commitments I put a significant amount of time into VIPKID. I saw the opportunity for what it is truly worth and committed to making a difference for us financially. The only thing you will lose out on is sleep, however I did not schedule any classes during parent teacher conferences in March or a week in April that was busy and we traveled for my birthday. It is flexible and there is not a minimum of hours you have to work.

Schedule: In my timezone, the ‘peak times’ on week days are 5am-9am CST and weekends 8pm-9am CST scheduled in 30 minute increments. There are no teaching times available at all between 9am-8pm CST because they are sleeping in China, but you can try your luck at scheduling non-peak times during the week 8pm-5am. 4am-5am will definitely get booked, and I’ve gotten several 9-11pm CST time slots booked here and there during the week.

I’m not a morning person, but I’ve learned that I CAN DO ANYTHING I PUT MY MIND TO. Like anything else in life, there are excuses that can be made.

Pardon my french, but this is what I tell myself when I get up at 4:45am to teach from 5-6am before work! Dave Ramsey is no joke y’all. Well, Dave didn’t quote this… but you get the picture. Discipline.

Remember to email me with the email you signed up with katie@decoratemylife.com . I’ll verify it and add you to my private group to share the videos I created for each step of the referral process with you. The process takes about 7 days to get hired, and then about 3-4 more days before you teach your first class. I totally wish I would have had a support group like what we have created when I went through this process alone haha!!

No the VIPKID classroom portal is like if skype and PPT got married. VIPKID has the slides loaded into the portal for you and there is a pen tool to write on the slides. You can also type into the chat box to the students. Sometimes I do this to spell out a new word they are asking about that is not on the slide or if they can’t hear me say to turn on their mic, etc.

Hey Katy. You definitely have your $hit together.i love your blog. I have been investigating VIP Kids and saw some reviews where someone never got paid. DID THIS EVER HAPPEN TO YOU?
I use Verizon for WIFI I but I only have one bar where I live. Is that a strong enough link? I also considered dressing up and pretending to be a granny character to get more followers. What do you think?

lol I mostly fly by the seat of my pants! I signed my second 6 month contract in August. It’s totally legit. #5 on Forbes 2017 list of best jobs to work from home! (Amazon was #3) Do you have enough wifi signal to stream video? You can do a test of your internet speed online. Also, after you apply and set an interview time you can go in up to 48 hours ahead of time and check all your sound/video/internet speed settings. If you are really serious about doing VIPKID, I would recommend paying for premium internet if you can upgrade it because it would be tax deductible. (To answer your question clearly, I’ve ALWAYS gotten paid on time or ahead of time since the time zone is ahead)

Would it be possible for 2 people to work at the same time with VIPKID in one house at the same time? Or would that cause internet problems?? Thanks for the review. I’ve been mulling this one over for months!!

Thank you for this post. I have my first mock class soon. I’m a little apprehensive about how well I can do this job. I’ve been a teacher for many years but this is a whole new ball game! I’ve read reviews where other teachers say it’s easy. I’m hoping that to be true. Though I’m not sure how easy it will be at 5am! Lol

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